Nobody Dies

It's no big reveal and I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, but human infants lack object permanence. It's only as their brains start to fully form that they realize that even objects they no longer can see still exist, or that the two parts of a dog they see behind a tree are not two separate dogs but in reality are one, connected dog.

Given the way our brains are wired and we perceive the world, it ends there (object permanence, that is, not Piaget's development).  But what if we were able to take it one step further?

It might sound absurd at first, but the Zen Desk proposes that we suffer from time impermanence.  In other words, we have achieved object permanence but we still lack time permanence.  We perceive a moment in time and when it's over and we're no longer experiencing it, we believe that the moment is lost forever - that it no longer exists.  We don't think that way about the objects in that moment; why do we think that way about the moment itself?

For example, on one very special day, I was standing in central Alaska and viewing Denali (Mt. McKinley to some of you still).  That was 1994 (I think), and although I have not seen Denali since then, I believe it still exists.  Right now, at this very moment, it is not in my field of view or readily accessible to me, but I am firmly convinced that were I to take all of those extraordinary efforts I undertook in 1994 (I think), the mountain would still be there.

This is because the mountain still exists in my mind, my memory to be precise. It's also because I have formed a schema, a mental model, that there is such a thing as "Denali" and that it exists in a very specific albeit remote location.  To be sure, I saw other mountains when I was in Alaska, I'm sure of it, but I don't remember them individually and I didn't create schema specific to any Alaskan Range mountain other than Denali.  The other mountains all exist in my mind in a sort of fuzzy schema you can call "other mountains in Alaska," which I'm sure also exist and can be verified on the same trip I would have to take to confirm the existence of Denali.

Here's my point: in addition to memory and schema of Denali, I also have memory and schema of that specific day in 1994 (I think).  I believe firmly that day and time existed - I'm sure I wasn't dreaming or imagining the day.  But because of the way our minds are wired, although I believe Denali still exists, I assume the specific day and time no longer exist.  Just because I don't have the means of going back and verifying the existence of the day and time doesn't mean that it does not still exist, any more than if I somehow lost my ability to confirm the existence of Denali - say, I went blind, or air travel was no longer possible for some reason - I wouldn't question the continuing existence of the mountain.

My hypothesis is that all moments in time still exist and that the past is never gone. My evidence?  The same as my evidence that objects I cannot perceive at this moment still exist: memory, and the mental schema formed regarding their existence.  Denali still exists and that day in 1994 (I think) still exists, as does every other day before and after.  

Accept this hypothesis, and the past is never really gone, and people and objects in the past are never really gone.  Those who have passed away are still existent, even if not accessible by conventional means. Nobody really "dies," they just stop existing in this present moment, but they still exist in past moments. And the beautiful part is that we can recall those moments when they did exist, and relive our experiences with them in our memories.  The more adventurous among us can create new experiences with the past in our imaginations.  

The only thing holding us back is our time impermanence.